Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2019

 

Changes to the Zishui from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Three Kingdoms State of Wu (Abstract)

 

Jia Liying

 

The characters訾 (zi) and赀 (zi) are not interchangeable in bamboo slip documents; the former refers to property, while the latter refers to a fine. The zishui or property tax was levied according to the value or quantity of assets. The Qin bamboo slips collected by the Yuelu Academy indicate that zishui was levied on ordinary officials and commoners under the Qin tax system. The zishui remained in existence from the Western and Eastern Han up to the Three Kingdoms state of Wu, but the tax collection procedure was gradually simplified. Under the Qin, the tax was proportionate to the tax-payer’s assets. Under the Han, the property tax unit was suan (算); under the Wang Mang interregnum, it was briefly collected at a rate of one-thirtieth of assets. In the Western Han, the manner of collecting the suan was flexible; there was no fixed amount or frequency until the middle and late Eastern Han, when tax was levied per ten thousand cash (one suan), at the rate of 120 cash per suan. The zi (訾) in the Dongpailou Han bamboo slips and the Zoumalou household registration bamboo slips of the state of Wu was an abbreviation of zisuan (訾算), and was set up to collect the property tax. Current published materials indicate that the tax had ten levels. The terms yizi zhengfu (以訾征赋) from the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han and hupin chuqian (户品出钱) from the time of the Wu state were taxes levied on assets, but basically fell under household taxes like the huchu (户刍) and hufu (户赋) rather than the zishui.